League of Legends Dev and Player (a U.S. Congressman) Speak Out Against SOPA

A member of the League of Legends community is also a member of Congress.

A number of those in the games industry have taken a stand against the Stop Online Piracy Act, although the industry's trade association, the ESA, is among those that do support it. The latest member of the industry to come out against the bill -- which you can read more about here -- is League of Legends developer Riot Games, and joining it is a prominent member of LoL's community: U.S. Representative Jared Polis.

In a post on the game's official forums today, Riot outlined its feelings on SOPA (and, by extension, the similarly problematic Protect IP Act). "We're not usually inclined to comment on politics. We're a game company, and making games is just a whole lot more fun," stated the post, written by CEO Brandon Beck. "But there is legislation under consideration today by the United States Congress that gives us serious concern."

Calling the bills a "misguided attempt to curb the illegal piracy of copyrighted content," Beck expressed Riot's concern and listed some of the potential implications the bills could have on average Internet users if passed. "Riot Games is opposed to SOPA/PIPA in their present form. While we do support efforts to prevent online piracy, the current form of this legislation comes at far too high a cost for us, our players, and online communities across the internet," Beck said before encouraging users to contact their members of Congress.

One of the first to respond to the thread was Jared Polis, a U.S. Representative for the 2nd congressional district of Colorado. Not only does he play League of Legends -- Anivia and Maokai are his personal favorite champions -- he's also an opponent of SOPA.

"I'm particularly concerned that SOPA might stifle the kind of innovation that brings us games we love, such as LoL," he wrote. "The bill makes it far too easy for angry competitors to sue good law abiding companies out of existence. It threatens any company or website that depends on user-generated content, even companies like Riot. Instead of coming up with great ways to keep making games like LoL even better, companies will have to spend their money hiring lawyers. That's why companies like Riot, who want to protect the games they create, are opposed to SOPA. "

In addition to the statement Beck issued on the forums, a member of Riot's legal team named Logan spent a portion of today answering questions on Reddit. He provided tips on what you can do -- whether you reside in the United States or not -- and provided examples of seemingly crazy scenarios that could occur if SOPA is allowed to pass.

When asked if Riot would consider a blackout to protest SOPA similar to what Reddit is doing on January 18, he replied "Nothing's off the table, but we aren't yet actively considering a blackout. I think the immediate concern for us is whether or not this would upset more players than not. We're open to using as many levers as we can to push political action, though.

"We're definitely going to take all options under consideration. Our goal is to do our part to help defeat SOPA, and we'll do whatever we think is most effective to make that happen."

Comments (3)

They'd bill us twice if they could

The industries that suffer from piracy have known what was to come for years. Now they try to get all the cards back in their own hands. They should see that this is the way things are going. And not the way they want things to be (All Your Money Are Belong To Us). They cannot get a grip on the situation and they refuse to work with the trend (rather than against it). It would be just a better world if things were shared (for instance, no more billions of HDDs with the same files on them). Just like the wireless electricity was held back (because they wouldn't know how to bill people). Screw them. Start thinking outside the box. 2060's ftw.

hallaluya

aman to that. we need to go the other way and force them to make games that work even when offline. Sorry for you city slickers, us rual people can't get broadband and Satillite internet isn't broadband, but rather a home owner dyi wheather radar. Mine can detect a rain cloud over 200 miles away and cut out on me. lol